Gudrun Bojesen and Thomas Lund

Gudrun Bojesen and Thomas Lund are not newcomers to the stage – they have been hailed as the most promising dancers in the Bournonville repertoire for some years. Bojesen possesses a personal sweetness, once almost virginal, which has allowed her to blossom into a tender, womanly performer in the roles of Hilda in “A Folk Tale” and the fatal sylph in the Bournonville version of “La Sylphide.” Thomas Lund, basically a demi-caractère dancer, acquired manly strength as Gennaro in “Napoli” and is a joy to watch in all his male Bournonville roles.

So they are nominated as future stars not in their present capacity as dancers, but in the hope that they will become something much more rare: inspiring teachers and critical researchers of the Bournonville heritage. As the celebrations for the ballet master’s 200th anniversary showed, there is still a lot to do in order to define the Bournonville style. A lot of quite recent “tradition” should be weeded out and a lot of research done on the Bournonville manuscripts and stage designs in order to establish a firmer footing for productions in the years to come. Even though it is not by the Danish ballet genius, “The Bournonville School,” which ...